Materias Reaction
by Shade the Hero
Summary: What happens when you activate multiple materia in a natural spring of the planet's lifeblood? Well the result certainly wasn't what Cloud Strife was expecting.
1. Chapter 1

Cloud Strife had seen many things in his twenty-six years. Good, bad, really bad, world-ending horrible, but one thing he never expected to see was materia pull the mother of all 'what the actual fuck is this – I can't even' moments he would ever experience.

It all started with a surprise attack from a behemoth. Cloud was in a spot near a well known natural mako spring. It had been dried for a while, with the planet trying to recover, it couldn't afford to waste its precious lifeblood by letting it flow on the surface, or at least that had been the case.

The monster shouldn't have been a problem, but it just happened to be a king behemoth, with wings and the power of ice breath. _Joy_.

Cloud did a masterful job regardless of the mutation, with his Fusion Sword poised to strike down the beast he had victory in his sight, what he couldn't see was the tail hidden behind its wing before it slammed into him, sending him flying into the mako spring.

Cloud landed with a splash as he sank deeper into the pool of acid green. Right away his mind was set in a panic as it struggled to stay focused. The last time he ended up in a mako spring he was comatose for days, though it could have easily been weeks. Sense of time was often one of the first things to go. In fact, Cloud had lost track of how long he had been submerged as the air was forced from his lungs solely due to the body's pure reflex to exhale used oxygen and intake a new wave. The new wave however was liquid, instead of a breathable gas.

As his vision blurred he tried to focus on the materia he had to propel himself towards the surface as a last ditch effort. What he didn't realize was he misjudged the focus and activated four materia at once. The liquid mako reacted to it and there were four concussive underwater explosions. Instead of upwards it pulled him deeper, but his last feeling of sensation told him a hand had grabbed him and he was going upwards.

He felt solid ground under his back before he felt the pressure of someone's hands pushing on his chest before he felt the liquid mako being forced out of his lungs, causing him to hack and choke as he rolled to the side.

He laid there, resting on his arms as he gasped for air, taking in the feeling of the cool, fresh oxygen filling his lungs. He looked around, trying to see where the behemoth went when he saw four human shapes around him, two standing up and the other two on the ground. He was convinced some helpful strangers had seen him fall in, and then they decided to speak.

"Where the hell are we? How'd we even get here?"

"I don't know pup, but I am curious as to who that man is."

"Huh, that guy? Never seen…wait, that hair! It couldn't be!"

Someone crawled closer to him and got right in his face, but all Cloud could see were blurry green shadows.

"Oh shit! It is, Spiky! Hey, you okay buddy?"

His mind was getting too fuzzy to focus, he wanted to figure out who that was…to answer them, but he couldn't even register the idea to form words.

"Mako poisoning, a bad case and getting worse," replied a voice he also clearly recognized, and it put him on edge, but he couldn't focus enough to act.

"Let me see," came a female voice and when she touched him he felt so comforted he almost gave in to the overwhelming urge to sleep, but she stopped him.

"Oh no you don't, we can't have you dying after what you did."

Cloud felt a cold, yet calming energy wash over him and his mind slowly cleared. The mako glow dimmed from his eyes as he opened them and blinked away the fog. Once he had he thought he was still dreaming.

He saw a girl with a familiar pink dress with chestnut hair pulled back in a braid with a pink ribbon tied at the top. Just over her shoulder he could see her ever protective bodyguard and 'perfectly matched for her' boyfriend, complete with his SOLDIER First uniform and X-shaped scar.

"First time a dream has ever healed me," Cloud mumbled.

At this Aerith could only giggle. "And people say you have no sense of humor."

Zack smirked behind her, "Spend a day during a normal patrol with him and you'll find he's got a pretty damn good one, not to mention a quick wit and clever sass."

"Perhaps he can explain how we ended up in the mako spring and why your appearances do not match my memory of you."

Cloud blinked and looked over to his left to see Sephiroth standing there. The next thing Sephiroth knew he was blocking what would have been a death blow from a very powerful sword, not unlike the Buster Sword.

Cloud's eyes glowed with anger as he glared at his eternal foe.

It startled Sephiroth who had slid back from the collision. The other man took a step back in shock as Zack started to intervene, but Aerith beat him to it.

"Cloud wait," she said as she placed a hand on his arm.

"Stay behind me, he won't get you again."

"Again," Sephiroth asked. "Please inform me, when did I attack her a first time? I don't even recognize her."

"Bullshit," Cloud spat as he released a trigger on his sword, sending a smaller blade flying up before catching it and swinging it at the silver-haired man barely missing his throat and cutting a few strands of hair in the process.

Suddenly another sword came flying at him and Cloud turned to block it only to blink in shock as First Tsurugi clashed with the Buster Sword. Sparks flew from both blades as Cloud stared down and realized his new opponent was Zack.

"Spiky, I don't know what the mako did to you, but Seph isn't the enemy."

"Zack, I don't think your friend is well," the other man replied. "And also be careful with that sword."

The younger warrior smirked as he looked over his shoulder at his mentor. "I know 'Geal, use brings wear, tear and rust, but I think keeping my friends from killing each other is a little more important, don't you think?"

"I suppose you're right," the man replied.

Cloud was beyond confused, but he figured if it was some weird mako dream than he should at least try and set it straight. All these facts were so jumbled it was like looking into different timelines.

"Sephiroth is no friend!"

Zack blinked in surprise. "What are you saying Cloud? You've always looked up to the guy. You said he was your hero."

"Before he slaughtered Aerith and the rest of my hometown," boy this mako dream was way out there.

"I have no memory of those atrocious accusations," the man defended.

Man Cloud hated it when he used big words. It was like he was trying to prove he was on a higher level every chance he got. Sure, Cloud could match those words with clever comebacks of his own, but it just really pissed him off.

Zack wasn't backing down however and pushed against Cloud's blade with the Buster and it emotionally hurt Cloud when both swords let out a high-pitch cry. He realized those two swords were brothers and never meant to go against each other. For that reason alone he pulled back and lowered his blade. After all, he couldn't be killed by hallucinations in a mako dream…right?

* * *

 _And that my wonderful readers is the first chapter in my newest story that won't leave me alone. Nightmare Undone is getting a new chapter soon as is Saving the Lost. I've been trying to focus on updating these stories, but it hasn't been easy especially with work. Regardless, I'm trying. I mean, sure, this idea may have been done before, but I don't think in quite this way and hey, for once its not a time travel "fix the world" thing! Yay! lol. I love those, but its always nice to try something new. This is so new I'm not even sure which direction I want to take it. I might want to keep it light and fun, but with a few realistic "Okay, this has to happen" things but hey, at least its something to look forward to. Other smaller stories are in my sights for updates too, but you probably won't see any updates for those until later down the road._

 _Oh, and if you couldn't tell by the language I used, this one won't be rated K+ Nothing crazy, but well, people curse. it happens._

 _FFVII and all its amazing characters belong to Square Enix_

 _Hope you enjoy!_


	2. Chapter 2

Cloud sat on the tree stump; the only part that remained of the young sappling that Sephiroth had cut down in order to make enough fire wood that would last them the night. He just sat there while the others moved about the makeshift camp. Angeal was trying to set up sleeping arrangements, using the foliage to make shelter while Zack was coaching Aerith on how to light the campfire.

Everyone had come to a silent agreement that the place they emerged from would make the best campsite and the sun was about an hour away from setting, judging by the angle in which the sun's rays caught on First Tsurugi, which Cloud had never sheathed. He kept it close to hand, still not trusting Sephiroth. Frankly, he didn't much trust Angeal either, considering he didn't know much of the man, other than he was Zack's mentor.

"You almost got it, just a little more elbow grease," Zack advised as he watched Aerith try to pull on the strings in an attempt to get the fire going.

"Sorry, I'm afraid I'm not very good," she replied with a sheepish smile.

"It's cool, here, like this!" He took the strings and pulled super fast, building up heat until the tinder started smoking and then he gave it back to her. "Okay, now be careful and try to take it from there, like how I told you."

Aerith carefully added more and blew on it before a small flame ignited. "I did it!"

"That's my girl!"

She blinked as she looked over at him and Zack blushed redder than a Gongagan tomato.

"Uh, not like that I mean, what I was meant was…I don't know what I meant, er good job, ah-ha-ha."

Cloud smirked at the display. That was one element of the mako dream he didn't mind.

Once the fire was going strong and the local kill that Angeal had hunted down was cooking over it the five took their places around the blaze for a sort of meeting. They had been putting off the topic until that point, but it was time to stop beating around the bush. Angeal, being both the calmest and most level-headed of the bunch, started things off.

"Before we go any farther we need to get an idea of everyone's current state. We all came out of that mako spring, but where were we before that? We seemed to connect well earlier, but at the same time Sephiroth is right. Our appearances are different from memory, for example Zack is wielding the Buster Sword, but I have not yet passed on Galatine to anyone.

The group turned to Zack who scratched the back on his neck out of habit. "I wasn't going to say anything, but I was just going along with all of the differences. I mean, Sephiroth is still the same to me, but everyone else is different. Angeal's change is a good one and so is Aerith's. The new dress looks good on you. Pink suits you way better."

She tried to hide her blush behind a smile before Sephiroth reclaimed the warrior's attention. "What of him? You said you knew him, and went on patrols, does that make him SOLDIER?"

The dangerous glare returned as Cloud clenched his fist when Zack waved his hands. "Whoa, calm down Spike, he was just curious."

"I'd also like to know why he holds such obvious hatred towards me, it is beginning to become irritating." Both Angeal and Zack heard the annoyance in Sephiroth's words and knew how dangerous things could get.

Zack did his best to keep everyone calm as he replied, "Well, I'd say Spike's changed most of all. His outfit is way different than anything I've seen him wear. Mostly he always stuck to the infantry uniform, but he wasn't SOLDIER, though he did try. He always used a rifle though, not a sword and man, it's clear he's got some serious mako strength. I thought it was because of the mako spring before, but I can tell his body has had time to adjust. He's had this power for a while."

"Is that all you've noticed about us Zack," asked Angeal.

The young warrior looked at his mentor sadly. "I didn't explain your change fully, 'Geal. I guess you must not have any memory of it, but it still hurts to talk about. A minute ago, you said you don't remember, but you gave me the Buster Sword after you forced me to kill you."

Everyone's attention snapped fully to Zack, especially Cloud whom had never heard of this before and Sephiroth who was visibly stunned. It was the silver general who spoke.

"What reason would you have to kill your own mentor?"

Cloud was surprised for more reasons than one. He had never known of Zack's mentor, or the fact that the Buster Sword once belonged to someone else.

"He was degrading, he and Genesis both. Angeal was convinced he was a monster and he needed to be stopped, so he…" Zack's fist clenched tightly with pain.

Cloud recognized that pain. He had felt the same for failing Zack and then again with Aerith.

"He forced you to end his suffering."

The group glanced over to Cloud and realized he knew exactly what Zack was dealing with.

"And what's your story," Sephiroth carefully asked. "It's clear you're different from Zack's memory.

Cloud let out a sigh, finally coming to terms with the fact that he may indeed be stuck, though whether he was in a different timeline or not was anyone guess until they got out of this forest.

"I'm perhaps from the most distant future of everyone here. From my point of view everyone here…is dead."

This had the effect he thought it would. Shock and surprise, and anger on Sephiroth's part, but he expected that. If they wanted the truth, then he'd oblige them. Maybe, just maybe coming clean and dropping the whole truth in its brutal honesty would undo some of the shit, or at least make this easier to deal with. So he didn't hold back. From the horrendous experiments he had been subjected to under Hojo's care, to the pain of watching his friends die. He didn't leave anything out, except for the location and mention of the black materia of course. No need to tell your enemy where to find the ultimate tool they need to end the world after all. He even gracefully replayed the events of the GeoStigma epidemic and all of its painful glory, including the connection it had with Jenova and the three remnants leading to a revival of his greatest foe and another battle to save the world.

When he had finished four pairs of eyes stared, unblinking in shock at him.

Zack was the first to recover and he slowly turned his head over to Sephiroth. "General, sir, are you okay?"

"Not in the slightest," was the reply.

The response was uttered on shaky breath, and it actually surprised the blond who had become so used to the confident tone the man always flaunted. It surprised him all the more when he felt pity for the silver general. He exchanged a glance with Aerith who nodded her head towards the general's direction. Cloud realized he had to do something or the man's mentality could crumble to pieces right here and now.

"I don't know what Hojo's told you, I still don't even know what timeline we're in, but you have no hereditary connection to Jenova. It was a parasite that was infused into your real mother while she carried you."

Sephiroth blinked as he focused on the blond, "But my mother's name was Lucrecia. I've never heard of Jenova until today."

Cloud blinked stupidly at him. "What?"

Angeal looked over at Sephiroth. "Where were you right before you appeared in the mako spring?"

Sephiroth glanced into the fire, the flames giving his eyes an oddly yellow glow. "I was going over a conjoined mission report with Tseng over the rising threat from Wutai, trying to prevent a war from starting. I recall feeling strange and excused myself, assuming lack of hydration perhaps had been the case as I had skipped the past few meals due to the issue at hand."

He ignored the stern glare from Angeal and continued.

"When I entered the break room it was empty and the feeling got worse. I went towards the refrigerator before a string of green energy encircled me and my vision was flooded with a wall of green. The next thing I notice was you three heading towards the surface." He looked over at Cloud then who returned the glance.

"I saw the blond sinking deeper and grabbed his arm before swimming towards the surface."

"It was you who saved me," asked Cloud.

Sephiroth nodded, "That's why your hatred surprised me. I still believe you're suffering from the effects of a mako overdose, because elements to your story do not make sense."

"Such as," asked Cloud. He already knew of the difference regarding Sephiroth knowing his real mother, but perhaps there was more.

"Hojo isn't employed as a scientist at Shinra."

Cloud's eyes widened as Angeal nodded. "I was waiting to see if you would say that Sephiroth."

The blond however was utterly confused. "But the mako, the whole procedure that makes you SOLDIER, a lot of it was originally Professor Gast's theory, but Hojo took it and made it his own as a way to seize power within the company and rise as the head of the science department."

Zack raised his hand, "I don't know a lot about all the dirty behind the scenes stuff, but Cloud's right. It was Hojo that was always in charge."

Sephiroth exchanged looks with Angeal and the older raven nodded. "Well, we can rule out Cloud suffering from mako overdose, but it seems Sephiroth and I remember things the same, but far different from the both of you. This would explain how you have that scar you said I gave you as well as forcing you to kill me. Perhaps whatever force transported Sephiroth and myself here brought you both in from different realities?"

"Is that possible," Zack asked as he looked over at Cloud who seemed just lost at this point. "I don't know. It's hard to compare you with the Zack from my memories. The experiments," he said that word with obvious disgust, "really messed with my head, so early memories of you are few and far in between. I remember how we met and there is a faint memory of reuniting in Junon and fighting off a legion of clones? The most vivid memories sadly, are from the day you died. You were still you, but there was far less humor since we were on the run as fugitives and labeled escaped specimens that Hojo wanted back. I was a useless vegetable, so the fighting was all on you."

The look on Zack's face was one of heartbreak and even Angeal found it hard to hide his emotion.

Aerith glanced down at the ground and the motion didn't escape Sephiroth. "What of you, miss? Which recollections do you find more familiar?"

"I remember," she began before looking over to Cloud, "welcoming Kadaj into the Lifestream, but not the other two after what they had done to you, besides, it's hard to heal more than two people at once from the Lifestream. The most important thing was saving you, and although I wanted to reunite Loz and Yazoo with their brother, their actions were their own undoing. Had they not overloaded their materia I could have easily healed you with the rain alone and welcomed them, but that's not what happened."

"What does that mean," asked Zack.

It was Cloud who replied, "It means that Aerith is from the same reality and timeline that I am."

She smiled and nodded. An old weight lifted off Cloud's chest that he had been holding onto for years. He had still felt regret, and he always would, but he had forgiven himself for things he couldn't control or change. But she was here now and alive. As was Zack, She explained him next.

"I was with Zack in the Lifestream when we were both engulfed by the same energy Sephiroth described."

"But then why does Zack not remember everything, but we do," Cloud couldn't help but ask. It was a valid question; one both Angeal and Sephiroth were stumped on too.

"My guess would be that while you were still alive, both Zack and I were dead. But since I'm half cetra I was able to remember, while Zack was reverted to an earlier stage in his life."

"But you can narrow it down to a smaller window," Sephiroth put in, "as Zack has the Buster Sword which he only obtained after Angeal's death, but it was before the fated mission to Nibelheim, as he still considered me a friend and defended me."

Cloud nodded, "True. The question we need to answer now is which reality of Gaia are we in now. Mine, or yours?"

Angeal stood up and approached the fire to check the meat. "That question will have to wait for morning. For now, let's put all of that insanity aside for later and enjoy an evening among friends, assuming we don't want to kill each other anymore?"

He looked at both Cloud and Sephiroth sternly.

Sephiroth offered the slightest of smirks. "I harbor no ill-will towards Strife. It was a simple misunderstanding that we seemed to have cleared up."

Cloud blinked at Sephiroth before catching the smile Aerith sent his way and sighed, letting go of the dying embers of his past hatred. It was clear this Sephiroth was not the same. "Yeah."

Zack whooped as he jumped up and retrieved one of the flat rocks Angeal managed to find and clean to serve as plates. "Let's eat! I'm starving!"

* * *

 _Well, that was certainly fun. A campfire pow-wow is always a great way to clear the air, and a good meal helps too. Wonder what tomorrow will bring for our heroes? Which world are they in? This should be fun. Hope you guys like the differences I have in store! :D_

 _This chapter was inspired by the song, "Lost in the Echo" by Linkin Park._

 _See you guys next time!_


	3. Chapter 3

The sun's rays shimmered through the canopy as the group made their way out of the forest. It'd be a long trek back to Midgar unless one of them could get a signal. Once they were close enough to the edge of the forest Cloud flipped open his phone and smirked when he saw three bars on his phone.

"Do you remember how to place a call? It's a bit different from answering your voice mail," Aerith teased.

"Har har," he replied flatly, but he kept the smirk as he scanned through his contacts and selected the one he'd been looking for. The good news was, the line was working.

Zack scratched the back of his head. "So, if his phone works, does this mean we're in our reality?"

Aerith smirked. "It depends on who answers. I think he's trying to call Tifa. He wouldn't be smirking like that if he were calling Barret or Yuffie."

"I can still hear you," the blond shot over his shoulder with an annoyed tone and Aerith just giggled like an innocent school girl.

"… _rnnnng…..rnnnng….Hello, welcome to the Seventh Heaven! How can I help ya?"_ It was the right number, but the wrong voice. This rough, male voice was nothing compared to Tifa's soft, gentle, reassuring tone. "Is Tifa Lockhart there?"

" _Tifa Lock heart? Don't know anyone by that name,"_ Cloud could tell the man had pulled the phone away from his ear as he called out, _"Hey, anyone named Tifa Lock Heart here?...Sorry son, looks like you got the wrong number."_

"It seems so, sorry for wasting your time." With that Cloud hung up and sighed in defeat.

"No go, huh? Looks like we're in the other world," Zack replied as he turned to his mentor. "Your turn."

Angeal would have, but right at that moment Sephiroth's PHS went off. He flipped it open and answered it. "Cresent."

" _General! Thank goodness we've finally gotten through, where are you? You excused yourself and no one has been able to locate you! I don't know where you are, but we need you in the executive room immediately! Wutai has declared war. Genesis is already throwing a fit because we couldn't locate either you or Commander Hewley. The Professor is especially worried."_

Cloud, who could clearly hear the other end of the conversation glared at Sephiroth. "The professor, I thought you said Hojo wasn't employed as a scientist."

Sephiroth matched the blond's glare and the two had a silent standoff. Zack felt the tension in the air thicken and Angeal felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

The general blinked owlishly before replying to Tseng on the other end of the line. "Let the professor know that the planet decided to intervene and I am trying to make my way back, with Angeal and three guests in tow. We've just exited the north end of the forest in Mideel. I would appreciate some transportation back."

" _Understood. I'll have it sent out immediately."_

With that the line went dead. Sephiroth then turned to Cloud and there was no malice or annoyance in his response. "You would do well not to assume anything, Strife. It is clear you are in my world and as such, things will be different than what you're used to."

Before Cloud had a chance to respond Angeal actually smacked Sephiroth upside the back of his head.

"Stop that! Are you trying to make enemies?"

Zack was torn between laughing and cowering in fear at his mentor's actions, but the stunned look from Sephiroth sealed the deal and he held his sides in hysterics. Aerith was trying to shush him, but struggled with concealing her own giggles.

"I do not see what is so funny," the general told them.

Angeal rolled his eyes before turning his attention towards Cloud who was still giving them both a stern glare. "The professor isn't Hojo, I'd stake my honor on it."

Cloud still wasn't too keen to believe him, but Zack placed his hand on his friend's shoulder. "You can believe that Cloud. Angeal's the most honorable man I've ever known."

Cloud let out a quiet sigh to relieve the tension. This adventure was going to be hell, he could feel it. "I hope you're right Zack."

 _~M*R~_

They kept trekking onward until they found a promising spot that would provide plenty of room for the incoming chopper to land before Sephiroth activated the signal beacon on his PHS. It took two more hours before the distinct sound of chopper blades echoed in the distance. When it landed the group climbed through the open side door before it took off and Zack smirked as it lifted and began its assent. "I love chopper transports. They give you that adrenaline pump that somethin' big's gonna go down, you know?"

Aerith was a bit more timid as a slight wave of turbulence caused her to nearly stumble. Cloud placed a hand on her shoulder to help steady her and she in turn clung to his side, which surprised him and he cast an apologetic glance towards Zack.

The young porcupine just shrugged and headed towards the pilot.

"I'm not fond of air travel either," Cloud admitted. Cid's airship was a bit better to handle, but the Shinra choppers always reminded him how bad his motion sickness used to be. Fenrir was still his favorite form of transportation. His eyes widened slightly before his frown grew more intense. He had just realized that Fenrir was back in his old world, probably still where he parked it and would remain until either he returned or someone came looking for him and found it covered in vines, moss and other forest foliage.

"You look like you just let the world down," Angeal called over to him.

"Just a selfish realization, it's not that important…" to anyone else but him, he mentally finished.

Sephiroth studied the blond for a moment before looking over towards Zack who was pestering the pilot.

"Zackary, please do not force the pilot to crash just to shut you up."

Zack blinked as he looked over at the silver warrior. "Awe, don't be like that Seph, I was just trying to introduce myself. This Turk won't even give me a name, just a holiday, or is that a code name?"

"No," the raspy voice replied, catching Cloud's attention. "My name is Valentine."

Zack pouted. "Come on man, you gotta have a cooler name than that! A first name, a nickname, anything! I mean, I could come up with one for you."

"Do that and you can walk back to Midgar," was the cold reply.

"Vincent."

Sephiroth and Zack looked over towards Cloud and the pilot looked at him through the rear-view mirror.

"Only Turks and my enemies know my first name, and the latter are all dead. You scream SOLDIER, which is impossible, unless there's a leak I haven't patched."

Cloud smirked, surprised to see Vincent like this, but not disappointed. The Vincent of his world was an irreplaceable member of the team and his support had been a big part of why they had won the day and saved the planet more than once, but to see him unsullied by Hojo's cruelty gave the blond hope in more ways than one. He was glad his friend in this world was able to live a more normal life and it also gave credit to Sephiroth and Angeal's story.

"This will be explained once we arrive back at headquarters," Sephiroth replied carefully, and the pilot shifted his glance to focus on the skies ahead, but Cloud knew the look the Turk shot his way, it was something he had picked up on after years of fighting alongside the gunman. Vincent was very curious.

The sun was setting when the chopper landed on the landing pad sitting atop of Shinra HQ. Vincent escorted them down to the meeting room where Rufus, Tseng and several members of the board were waiting.

Cloud instantly glared when he saw characters like Scarlett and Heidegger there. Scarlett was the first to speak.

"Finally, it took you long enough, _general,"_ that last word uttered with attitude that Sephiroth could barely stand. Her tone and expression changed when she saw Cloud and was instantly smitten. "Oh, my! I didn't know the guests you were bringing would be so attractive."

She got up to lean against his shoulder, her cleavage far more revealing than deemed appropriate in that tacky dress. Cloud gave her a look of pure disgust. "Touch me and I'll run you through."

She smiled as leaned in closer. "Oh please do."

Cloud's eyes flash with murder as his sword hand twitched. It was Rufus who saved the woman's life. "Scarlett! If you value your job you will kindly shut up and sit down. Honestly, you're acting no better than those tramps down at the Honey Bee inn."

The woman huffed in response before retaking her seat.

Cloud followed the others and took his seat between Aerith and Vincent.

Sephiroth sat next to Rufus and both Zack and Angeal sat next to him. Rufus looked around at the room before he looked over at Scarlett and Heidegger. "You both are excused. The classified part of our meeting is over and I'm sure you both have important work to get back to."

As the two rose from their seats to leave, Scarlett stumbled on her high heels and leaned heavily against Cloud's chair to catch herself. "Sorry, new shoes are always a pain to get used to." Cloud was glaring at her from the corner of his eye, but not for catching herself on the back of his chair. He waited for her to leave the room before pulling the folded piece of paper she had stuck in his spiky hair and glared at it.

" _Call me sometime hot stuff."_

Below was her number, but Cloud didn't even glance at it as he effectively tore the note in tiny pieces and threw it on the floor.

"I'll have my secretary clean that up later. That happens more often then you may think," Rufus admitted almost apologetically.

It was Aerith who spoke up, "Sir, if this meeting is classified, should all of us really be here?"

Rufus smiled kindly at her, which was odd for Cloud to see. He was used to a more…deceptive and cunning Rufus. Was he up to something, or was this genuine?

"That was a lie to get those fools out of the room. This is the real classified meeting and their participation isn't needed, especially since I don't trust them."

"Why still have them employed," asked Zack.

"Because they're the last remnants of my father's company. This new Shinra is being remolded to better benefit the planet. Sadly, Wutai doesn't believe me. It's empress is even more stubborn than her father."

"The empress? But Yuffie's…" Cloud stopped himself. He still wasn't sure what timeline they were in. Clearly they were in a different reality, but was time here different too?Rufus looked the same age as he did the last time Cloud saw him, but Angeal hadn't been around during that time and neither had Sephiroth still been general of SOLDIER. Vincent looked the same age Cloud remembered, but it masked his real age due to the experiments which had happened to this Vincent who set there looking every inch the normal, model Turk, but if he was the correct age then how-

"Hey, you okay buddy? You look like you're head's gonna explode!"

Cloud looked back over at Zack who returned the look with concern as the others around the room were staring at him too.

"Perhaps we should start with something easier for our guests to take in," offered the president.

"Good idea," Vincent replied. "I have a few questions of my own, but let's hear their story."

Cloud let Zack and Aerith explain their part of the story, as he was having trouble making sense of this whole mess.

Once they finished Rufus was tapping his fingers on the table, still taking it all in. "So you're from a different reality where the company fell to a terrorist group that some of you were in charge of because my father and then later myself was stealing life energy from the planet which ended up having a snowball effect that constantly put the world in danger while also constantly having to deal with the threat of a returning dead general Sephiroth who had gone insane believing an alien was his mother and proclaimed himself a god."

"That's the jist of it pretty much," Aerith replied.

"And the only man who could stand up to him is this blond warrior who failed to become a SOLDIER, yet ended up falling victim to this professor Hojo's experiments who also was responsible for causing Sephiroth to go crazy and molded him since childhood to be a merciless killer on the battlefield?"

Zack nodded. "It seems right."

"What kind of fucked up world did you people come from?" The group turned towards the door to see Reno standing there, looking completely the same as Cloud remembered. At least there were some things that never changed.

Rufus smirked with relief. "Your mission was a success I take it?"

Reno returned the smirk with a cocky grin on his own, "You expected any less from me boss? I also bumped into the professor on my way up. Said there was somethin' strange goin' on and it needed to be investigated. I think I found what the problem is."

Cloud tensed up as he heard footsteps coming closer. If it was Hojo he wouldn't hesitate to kill the man, he didn't care what reality he was stuck in. Being on the run was better than living another moment in a mako tank.

The moment the professor entered the room An intense pain tore through his head followed by a piercing cry that bellowed like a raving banshee. He doubled over clutching his head as he faintly heard Aerith shout both his and Zack's name. A blurred glance to his right told him Zack was also in immense pain.

His head was turned against his will as someone was checking him over and all he saw was a blurred chestnut color and soft green eyes staring back before he felt the effects of a sleep spell wash over him and his world went dark.

* * *

 _Have I ever mentioned before that I sometimes suffer from chronic migraines and they often feel like someone's trying to split my head open with an ax? Perhaps not in those exact words, but lemme tell you. They suck. I wish that pain on no one. I had that pain in mind when writing that last bit. Also, I apologize again for Reno's language. It's Reno. I told him to behave, but he just flipped me off, so I'm sorry._

 _Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long. ;)_


	4. Chapter 4

For the first time in what seemed like years Cloud was lost in a blissful, silent and dreamless sleep. It was calm, quiet and peaceful. It made it all the more alarming when he woke up and found himself lying in a hospital bed in what seemed like a lab. Panic set in completely when he found himself restrained with thick, metal clamps binding his arms and legs to the bed. He started pulling against the restraints, determined to break free.

"Cloud?"

That voice made him stop and he looked over to see Aerith standing on the other side of the room, looking nervous.

"Aerith, are you alright? What's going on?"

Tears welled in her eyes and she closed the gap in the room and wrapped her arms around his neck. This startled the blond, afraid the worst had happened.

"Thank the planet it worked."

Well, at least until she said that, and then he was completely confused once again. That was happening way too much lately.

"Aerith, what happened? We were in the meeting room, professor Hojo came in and there was so much pain and then…" realization hit him then and he tried to look around. "Where's Zack?!"

Aerith let out the biggest sigh as she pulled away from him. "Right over there. He suffered just like you did, though his case wasn't as severe."

"Case? Aerith, please tell me what's going on. Get me out of these and we can get out of here and find our own way back home."

Aerith looked at him sadly. "Cloud, those weren't to keep you from escaping, they were used to keep us safe from you. Zack needed them too."

Cloud gave her the most hurt look he could offer. "Aerith….you know I'd never hurt you."

"It wasn't you we were afraid of. It was Jenova acting through you."

Well that certainly got his attention. "But, how is that possible?"

"I'm afraid it's because of me."

A woman appeared in the doorway and headed over. Her long elegant hair tied back in a loose ponytail that did little to help keep it in check. "Cloud Strife; the planet's been throwing a royal fit since you and your friend arrived. I realize now it was because of that revolting monster hiding within, but I know you personally are not at fault. My wonderful daughter explained quite a bit after we managed to extract the venom from your systems."

"Venom?"

"That's what we called the calamity. My people, the cetra discovered the creature before the humans could find her crashed meteor and we managed to neutralize it. A few rare cases still pop up every now and then, but it's nothing serious. A small rat here and there or a random minor monster trying to gain power from the natural mako springs. You and your friend over there have had the most severe case in the past one thousand years as far back as I was able to research."

Cloud tried to look over at where she indicated Zack was, but he couldn't quite see him with his movement restricted.

"Can we let him out of those," asked Aerith, fully respecting his discomfort.

Ifalna stepped over to his bedside, studying the monitor before placing a delicate hand on his forehead. She then smiled and reached over to a code panel on the wall behind him and punched in a code and just like that the clamps all released at once. Cloud wasted no time sitting up and rubbing his wrists. He also looked over at Zack. Both his and Cloud's armor had been removed and only their basic pants and shirts remained on. Everything else was in the next room, which was made apparent as Aerith had vanished out the door and returned with his possessions, except for his sword. "How you lift that giant butter knife, I'll never know," she teased as she handed him his things.

"Well someone had to slice through all the evil bread that Shinra left behind," he returned the humor in kind, which only relieved her worries more, and that was his exact goal.

A moan to their left alerted them to Zack's awakening. Ifalna walked over to his bedside and examined his slowly opening eyes as he came to.

"Aerith? How many years was I out? You're still beautiful, but I might be too late to ask for that date."

Aerith bit back a giggle and covered her mouth with her hand as Ifalna smacked him on the forehead with her clipboard. "Honestly, you call that charm? What my daughter sees in you I'll never know."

She checked over his vitals, just as she did Cloud's before deeming him back to normal and released him from the restraints. Aerith walked over to him, handing him his stuff, but it all clattered to the floor when he wrapped his arms around her. "When me'n Spiky went down, I feared the worst. I'm glad you're safe."

"It was pretty scary," Aerith admitted. "After you both collapsed Mom and the professor had you both brought here so she could treat you. I'm still not sure what she did, other than fix some idiot monkey's insane mistake, at least those were her words."

Ifalna returned from the other room and regarded Cloud with apologetic sympathy. "I'm sorry you had to wake up to that, but I needed to make sure nothing of the venom remained, and that can only determined after the patient awakens. You had to be restrained because the venom forced you to lash out at us, fortunately, the general was there to offer protection and Commander Hewley offered back up. I will say though, anyone who judges your strength by appearance alone is a fool."

"Why's that," Cloud couldn't help but ask, still concerned about how Jenova affected him so strongly after all this time. It had to be her, and he didn't even know how.

"Because Sephiroth had trouble just holding you back," she said with a smirk. "If Valentine hadn't knocked you out when he did, the battle would have been an interesting one, not to mention costly."

Cloud held his head in his hands, trying to will away the oncoming headache. Zack on the other hand was curious.

"What about me? I didn't try to attack anyone, did I?"

Ifalna smirked kindly at him. "No, once you hit the floor you were pretty much down for the count, however you were in severe pain and both your eyes were glowing as brightly as a mastered materia."

Aerith smiled down at Cloud as she rubbed his back in a circular motion. "If it makes you feel any better, the head professor isn't Hojo."

"Who then," asked Cloud, assuming things couldn't get any crazier. He was wrong.

Ifalna went to the doorway and stuck her head out, speaking into the hall. "Our patients would like to meet you."

The woman that stepped inside rattled both men as her resemblance was uncanny to someone else they knew. Cloud recognized her, but he couldn't see her features so clearly through the crystal she had been encased in. Zack on the other hand was dumbfounded.

She saw this and smirked slyly at them. "Oh come now, surely you knew Sephiroth had to get his good looks from me."

She waited for the shock to pass over them before he properly introduced herself. "My name is Lucrecia Cresent, head of the science department. You've already met my right hand, Ifalna, and my other right hand is currently finishing up with a round of Second Class injections and will be here shortly."

"The SOLDIER injections," Cloud challenged. "They don't include Jenova cells, do they?"

Lucrecia laughed, "Good heavens no! After removing the venom from you boys, do you honestly think we'd use it on our own army? We use pure mako we channel in our own facility here. Midgar is very rich in the planet's life blood, but we're very careful about it now. The old fat turd was getting far too greedy, I'm glad his son had the good sense to get rid of him."

Zack had to bite back a laugh at the way she described the old president.

Cloud sighed as he relaxed. That's when another worry arose. "Wait, if you removed the Jenova cells, then won't that weaken us?"

Lucrecia got right in his face, and he found himself flinching back, she looked way too much like Sephiroth up close for comfort.

"Do I look like the kind of woman who'd just steal a person's strength and leave them helpless?"

It was Aerith who spoke up, "I'm sorry, but we just met you, so we don't know."

Lucrecia slyly glanced at her, "Hmm, fair point." She pulled back and shook her head. She then looked at Cloud with a devious smirk and it was making his skin crawl. "Rest assured, I replaced what I took with something better and let's say that when you die you won't suffer any pain when you enter the Lifestream."

"Excuse me," asked the blond.

"You see, we've seen it before with the rare creature that's suffered from the venom. When it was killed we witnessed the Lifestream trying to take it, its cells were pulled apart. The natural cells were taken, but the infected cells were left behind to rot."

"Another one of your charming bedtime stories mother?"

Lucrecia looked towards the door where her son was leaning against the frame. "Bedtime stories were originally used to warn children of the world's many dangers, or have you forgotten your early lessons?"

"Difficult to do so when you keep reminding me," he replied as he entered the room and nodded towards the three guests.

"I'm relieved to see you're feeling better."

Cloud would be lying if he said that didn't unnerve him. "I'm fine, thanks." He then shook his head. He had to keep reminding himself that This Sephiroth was different, and that should be a good thing, he just had to get used to it.

Zack smiled as he jumped up and pounded his chest, "Right as rain, Seph!"

Lucrecia giggled as he watched the young warrior. "Oh I like him, such a cute nickname he gave you."

Zack's smile turned into an open-mouthed grin as he beamed brighter. "I always give my friends nicknames." He jerked his thumb towards Cloud, "That moody chocobo over there is Spiky and my mentor I just call 'Geal. He didn't like it at first, but he got used to it."

"We all had to get used to our nicknames," Cloud added with the roll of his eyes.

Aerith pouted a bit. "I don't have a nickname…"

Zack turned and wrapped her in another hug, "Sure you do! You're my angel!" He snuggled his face against hers and she giggled uncontrollably. Lucrecia rolled up the papers she was holding and swatted him over the head. "No lovey-dovey nonsense in my lab! Save it for the honeymoon!"

Zack turned a dark shade of red and Cloud couldn't help but laugh. Even Sephiroth fought to stifle a chuckle.

Lucrecia sighed and shook her head, admitting defeat before looking over at Ifalna who was trying to very hard to keep herself busy, but the head of the science department could hear the woman mumbling something about her daughter and how it was too early for a serious commitment. She found it amusing and planned to tease her for it later.

"Alright," she said turning to her patients. "You've both been given a clean bill of health, but I want to see you back here immediately if the mako I used doesn't agree with you, understood? Mako rebounds can be serious and deadly if not treated in time. I'd like you to stay close by for a few days just in case."

Zack smirked and saluted, "Sure thing Ms. Sephiroth!"

"Don't call her that," the general deadpanned.

"Ms. Lucrecia or Doctor Crescent will do, thank you," she added.

"Okay, okay I got it, my bad."

Cloud had one more thing he needed to know before leaving. "How did you do it? Replace the cells?"

Lucrecia turned and blinked at him, waiting for him to explain. Cloud knew the look only from his experience with Sephiroth. "The one who gave us these cells, and my entire enhancements…he did it over a period of four years and it wasn't a simple dip in a mako tank. He tore us apart and pieced us back together, whenever he didn't feel like waiting for our bodies to do it themselves…" Sephiroth noticed the telltale signs of a man fighting off a panic attack. It was enough to confirm the torture, even if he was fending it off rather well. He turned to look at Zack and he too had lost all humor. It affected them both. Imprisoned together perhaps?

Lucrecia and Ifalna both regarded him with sadness and pity. It was Ifalna who spoke. "Your medical stats proved to us it had been torture, but we didn't think it had spanned over such an insane length of time. I hate to make what happened to you seem worse, but our results show he was testing some experiments out for…"

"For fun," Lucrecia finished, anger clear in her voice. "The one who did this to you could have done it in far less time if he hadn't tried different things, and none of them connected together. He would try one thing and then shift to another. Some of it was to further enhance, while other evidence shows he was trying to test his progress by trying to kill you and see if you survived before he started again. I had hoped my findings had been wrong, but you confirmed it. If I ever meet this man I will stab him in the heart with a syringe and inject fluorosulphuric acid just to watch him squirm."

Cloud wasn't sure what that was, but he saw both Ifalna and Sephiroth pale, so he knew it was bad. Zack apparently knew it too. "If he even has one," he added.

Ifalna tried to change the subject as she turned to Cloud. "To answer your question, it was all a matter of a simple transfusion, similar to a blood transfusion, only the mako we injected needed time to be absorbed by your system and eradicate the venom. Since it's a mako we produce we made sure it has a compound that neutralizes all traces of the calamity. It only took about six to seven hours and you woke up about an hour later."

"So…Jenova's gone," asked Zack.

Ifalna turned to him and smiled, "Erased completely."

Cloud let out a sigh of relief, knowing that connection to Hojo was finally over.

"But since this is basically like a booster shot for you two, you will need time to adjust to the change. How difficult it is depends on the individual, but you're both free to go whenever you're ready, and don't hesitate to come back if you feel ill, or have questions. You'll usually find one of us three around here."

Cloud nodded as he got down from the bed and headed for the door. He saw Zack still chatting with Aerith, but he needed some fresh air and some time alone ot himself to take this all in. "Thanks." He passed by Sephiroth, who gave him a curious look and then looked up when he saw someone approaching. "Mother, I believe she's finished with the Second Class injections."

Lucrecia smiled at this. "Oh good," she cupped her hand around the side of her mouth. "Strife, get in here!"

"What now?"

Zack blinked and did a double take as his blond friend poked his head back around the corner with his eyes nearly closed with annoyance on one side of the doorway and on the other side an equally blond woman in a lab coat with identical blue eyes (with the lack of mako glow) glared into the room with the same expression.

"Holy Shiva…" he breathed.

The two blonds looked at each other and while Cloud's mind froze with shock at the face he had last seen covered in ash and blood staring right back at him, the woman's eyes widened for a moment, but then she entered the room and stomped her foot right on the head scientist's own foot. "What kind of sick game are you playing at Crecie! I thought I told you to stop with your teasing pranks! You can't just grab some poor young SOLDIER who looks like my son, dress him up and tease me! It's not fair to the poor trooper and it's cruel!"

"Skye, listen to me," Lucrecia tried to say through the pain and gritted teeth.

"No! No more excuses! Now apologize to this poor man and let him get back to his duties!"

Zack chuckled. "Oh look, they have the same temper!"

Skye turned and glared at him next. "Can it porcupine, before I turn on you next!"

Ifalna decided to intervene, something she was clearly used to. "Skye, calm down, this isn't a prank. Look, even my own daughter is here."

Skye stopped then and focused on the young lady who was consoling a distraught Zack. "She called me a porcupine," he whimpered. "Shh, there there," she said stroking his dark spikes. She didn't dare tell him that the description was accurate.

She turned back to the blond warrior then who was still just staring blankly at her before turning back to Lucrecia. She also noticed his reaction. "This should be interesting."

* * *

 _To the guest reviewer that just posted that the wait was causing you pain, fear not, for I have arrived with the perfect remedy!_

 _Actually, I had just finished it this morning and was double checking to make sure everything was right. And by this morning I mean 4am. xD Don't you guys know some writers never sleep? They keep going on power naps, junk food and loads of caffeine! Well, that kinda true, I don't eat much junk food. xD_

 _Okay, so update status. oh my, it looks like Cloud. exe has stopped working for now. Lucrecia or Skye may need to reboot. xD But things are starting to explain themselves a bit with this new Gaia's history. And it seems Hojo was far more cruel than we originally thought...(how is that possible?)_

 _Overworld update time! A wonderful person on here by the name of screwygirl has been reviewing my works and following along a lot recently and we got to chat quite a bit on here. Long story short we decided to do a collab. While she is working on several stories, there is currently only one on her profile, but it's pretty interesting, go check it out!_

 _Our collab can be found on my profile and if you go to hers you'll find a link to it, plus a youtube trailer vid I made for the story. It's only got one chapter so far, but we've written a total of 9 up to this point, but we'll be uploading it on a by-weekly basis and won't upload anything unless we both believe it's ready. The writing was split 50/50 and she's doing a fantastic job with the editing. We're still writing it and having a total blast!_

 _She loves feedback, as do I, but as she's a fresh fanfiction writer any constructive feedback you give her/us is greatly appreciated._

 _An update for Nightmare Undone is also in the works too! So much is happening, no wonder I'm not getting any sleep. xD_

 _Thank you for all of your support guys, see you next update!_


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